rec.autos.simulators

Are you testing this at the Zone?

Is one of the future sims rumored to use this graphics engine GP3? The
graphics (based on the AVI) look to be close to Rally Championship in
quality. Photorealistic.

David G Fisher

Brilliant performance even on slower PC's. I tried racing on an Old
Pentium 200 MMX with a Voodoo 1 card and even on a IPX Lan race with 12
riders plus 4 AI riders I was getting a good 15 to 20 FPS. The graphics
were more than adequate (about equivalent to SCGT at 640x480) and
control was quite easy even at this less than optimal frame rate. I also
tried an AMD K3 at 350MHz with a single Voodoo 2 and it performed
exceptionally well. On a beaten up PII 350 with Voodoo 2 SLI I was able
to get 30 to 35 FPS in traffic at 800x600 and 16 bit rendering with the
longest view distance, detailed smoke and most other graphics options
set to medium or max. Quite frankly I am astounded at the efficiency and
quality of the graphics engine. I know other people are also impressed
and this engine will be used on a few future car sims is the gossip I
heard! The FPS is maxed out to 60 and I believe this should be easily
achieved on a PIII 450 with either a Voodoo 3 3000 or TNT 2 Ultra. The
TNT 2 Ultra should be able to achieve this with 32 bit rendering.

Although the quality of the graphics was amazing on the Voodoo based PCs
there was significant decrease in banding and more vibrant colours on
the TNT 2 based PCs running at 32 bit rendering. The game also ran quite
well on NT Workstation PC's and Windows 2000.

Did quite a few laps using the MS Sidewinder Precison Pro. You can use
the hat on the joystick to simulate moving forward and back on the seat
and lean off the seat left or right. This will take a bit of getting
used to! After a few aborted attempts with these set to manual I
chickened out and set them to auto.

I raced around Phillip Island with the Physics set to Intermediate and
default bike settings. I tried Biaggi's Yamaha (where are the brakes),
McCoys Honda twin ( brilliant manouverability but crappy acceleration),
Doohan's Honda (how does he race this thing), Kenny's Modena (similar to
the Honda Twin) and the Suzuki (very precise steering but ho hum
brakes). My best lap was with the Honda Twin at 1:42. The different
bikes definately have different feel. The bike setup has a  terrific
amount of choices but I was concentrating more on the physics and
joystick aspects so didn't play with them much. All the usual stuff is
there plus several different engine tunes to pick from. Ride a big bang
or screamer, your choice!

Wheelies, powerslides, suspension load/unloading, white line slipping,
tank slapping wobbles etc are all there. Even the 2cm height difference
between the tarmac and grass was simulated at Phillip Island. On several
occasions I found myself highsiding after either losing traction
temporailiy as my back wheel hit the ripple strip or white line or by
sliding along the ridge caused by this height difference. The first
corner at Phillip Island can be taken in fifth at around 240kmh which is
a bit better than you can achieve in EA Superbikes.

Tyre tempereture was monitored and visible as a topside picture of the
bike with the tyres indicating a range of colours from light blue for
cold to red for hot with green being the natural selection for the
optimal temp.

Split lap times are enabled but there is no telemetry to help witht he
bike set up.

The AI riders had the individual characteristics of the real GP stars.
By combining the different physics of the bikes and the AI riders unique
"personality" it was like watching the real thing. Phsycho outbreaking
moves from Barros are a norm and power slides from Doohan a thing to
watch! Apparent;y the AI of the riders takes into account their position
during a race. Somebody like a Doohan will race to win whilst some other
riders are content to sit in third place and not risk a pass just for
the sake of being second! AI is also supposed to allow the slowing down
of riders if they have a large gap near the end of the race to reduce
their risk of crashing.

The sound was okay but too hard to tell how good in the noisy
environment of 20 odd PC's making the lovely 500cc noises! One amusing
aspect is the cheering and applause that greets you after you do a
250KMh face plant into the sand! The BETA supported EAX and A3D but I am
not sure if they will both exist in the released code.

This game is being created by a group of sim and bike ethusiasts and the
attention to detail is staggering. I can't wait for the next session!

P.S. Once again I will say that this is a personal opinion. I am not an
employee of Hasbro/Melbourne House/Infrogrames/Beam or Microprose.

Feel free to ask any questions but better still have alook at teh
Gp500.net site to get the facts from the devlopers themselves.

The most amazing thing is the wuality even on low spec PC's.

Stefan Petrovic
GP500.Net